Chapter Text
Izuku was fucking done. That much he knew. All Might had left him hopeless. Kachaan had told him to die. He was quirkless. Useless. Deku. Waste. Nuisance. He was not a hero. There was nothing heroic about a quirkless Deku. He had taken up All Might’s time. The hero could have saved at least 5 people in the time he wasted with Deku. He always took up everyone else’s valuable time with his nonsense. Izuku couldn’t stop himself, couldn't convince himself this was a bad idea.
He jumped.
The air was cold and sharp against his skin, his hair blowing chaotically, slapping into his face and getting into his eyes. He didn’t care. He just breathed in a sigh of relief and waited for impact.
When he blinked his eyes open after the darkness had hit him, he'd expected to see whatever the afterlife was. Maybe heaven, although that felt too nice. He didn’t think he deserved hell, but he didn’t seem to like he deserved all the shit he went through, so maybe that trend would continue.
What he hadn’t expected however, was to blink up at the sky, seeing the same clouds he had looked up at as he fell. Odd. Maybe this was a process? Maybe he was a ghost and had to find his way from his body to the afterlife? Everything ached painfully, but maybe that was just part of the process. Death and the afterlife, the one thing he couldn’t research. Well, until now.
He pushed his aching body up into sitting, groaning at the way he felt his arms and legs click back into a functional state. Weird, he wouldn’t have expected to feel his body knitting itself back together in ghost form, but who was he to know?
His body started to feel slightly numb, which felt more like what he would have expected, although the slight tingling pins and needles in his whole body below his neck felt odd. Whatever. He had a job to do. He had to get to the afterlife or whatever.
Void of any real emotions, Izuku walked along the middle of the road, not bothering with the path and safety and shit. He was dead, and he wanted to be dead, so who really cared?
He had no clue where he was walking, but it felt better then staying there.
“Kid! What the hell are you doing walking in the middle of a busy road at 1AM? Cars might not see you- why are you out this late at all?” A voice called as a thud landing behind him. Izuku spun, staring at the homeless looking man with a massive scarf. Weird.
“Are you dead too? Or can you see ghosts? Am I a ghost?” Izuku mumbled to himself, “I guess you could say I have unfinished business but at the same time I’m distinctly finished with everything, but maybe it’s a quirk? Maybe he’s alive but can see me? But he’d know I’m a ghost right? That’s fucking weird. Or maybe he doesn’t know he’s dead? I wouldn’t have known if I hadn’t known I wouldn’t survive… oh but the quirk idea is so cool, like being able to see ghosts? That could be so useful! You wouldn’t have any doubts about who killed the murder victim, you could just ask them, oh I need to analyse this, I mean seriously-”
“Kid, what… what are you saying?” The man asked after a solid second, interrupting Izuku’s rambling. Oops. He was supposed to be getting better at that. Oh well. He was dead, what did it matter? “My quirk is not seeing ghosts, and you are definitely alive.”
“Nope! I’m definitely dead! I would know,” Izuku replied cheerily, feeling a little bad for the news he was about to give, “And if you can’t talk to ghosts, that means you’re dead too.”
“I can feel my heart beating, kid. I am very much alive.”
Huh, that was a good point. Izuku could also feel his heartbeat. Interesting. Ah well, it was probably a mental trick. Something the spirit just got so used to it continued to replicate it. Interesting.
“No. Kid, I’m not sure why you think you’re dead, maybe you got hit with a mental quirk, but I’m certain we are alive.”
“How can you prove that?”
“If we are ghosts, I wouldn’t be able to call my husband, would him picking up satisfy you?” The man asked, and it really wouldn’t, but Izuku was curious how the afterlife worked in accordance to interactions with humans, so he nodded regardless.
The man pulled out his phone, clicked a number, and almost instantly the person on the other end picked up. That was too fast, Izuku didn’t think his spirit would imagine this if it was his fake creation in his head. No one locked up that fast… right? Odd.
“Shouta? What’s wrong? You never call on patrol! Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine ‘Zashi, I just needed to prove to this kid that neither him nor me are dead, I’ll explain later,” The man replied, before turning his phone off and looking up at Izuku and quirking an eyebrow.
“Ok, so what stops you being a figment of my imagination?”
“What?” The man splutters, looking genuinely caught off guard and simultaneously like he is never caught off guard normally, and the fact he is, was disturbing him. Weird. This whole person was weird. Everything was weird. Ahh well, what had he expected from the worlds biggest mystery?
“Well I know for a fact I am dead. I jumped off a like 20 story high building, and I’m quirkless, so there is no way I survived that. The question remains, who are you? Are you dead too? Or are you a figment of my imagination made to calm me? Or are you some spiritual guide? You seem to be too confused to be used to this, but maybe you’re new, I don’t know how the afterlife works…”
“I don’t… you jumped off a building!?”
“Oh, yeah, honestly one of my better choices in life not gonna lie. 5 out of 5 stars, would recommend.”
“What the fuck?” The man whispered under his breath, which made Izuku giggle to himself. He hadn’t expected this much entertainment factor in death. Ahh well. He was here for it.
“I don’t know what to tell you, I’m very much dead.”
“Where are your parents? Would seeing them convince you that was a weird dream? It’s definitely a weird dream…”
“I don’t got parents. My dad left when I was like 3 and my mum killed herself when I was 5 because I’m quirkless. No one really noticed though, and Mum had bought the apartment, not rented, so I’ve just been staying there, stealing food where I need to…”
“Ok, you are way too young to be living on your own, why are you not in foster care?”
“Two reasons. One, no one even noticed my mum died except her best friend, who’s son hates me and told her I had an uncle on my dad’s side who had taken me in, so basically the only people who knew I was an orphan thought I had a guardian. Two, I was not planning on risking the foster system, do you know how many quirkless kids die there? I mean I suppose I died anyways, but still, seriously, that is an actual problem, and I didn’t want to deal with that. I survived fine thank you very much,” Izuku ranted. He never talked this much about himself to people, but here he was, rambling about his whole life story. To be fair, he was dead, so it wasn’t exactly like any of this mattered. Maybe this was some weird therapy thing in the afterlife. That would make sense. He probably needed it. He had killed himself to be fair.
“Ok, how about you come home with me, I’ll make you a good meal, you can sleep on this whole being dead thing, and we’ll see how you’re feeling tomorrow?” The man suggested.
“No way! You could be a fucking creep for all I know! Besides, what if you’re some soul eating demon? This is the afterlife to be fair!”
“I’m a hero.”
“Yeah!? Ok then, what’s your name!?”
“Eraserhead.”
Oh shit. Ok. Izuku knew this pro. He had analysed every single move the hero made, broken down everything. How did he not recognise the hero? The lack of yellow goggles probably didn’t help. Of all the heroes Izuku did not think would die any time soon, the top spot would be Eraserhead. Even All Might was more likely to die- although that was just based on how he threw himself into danger with zero thoughts. Eraserhead however, analysed everything before he made a choice. Never once had he heard of the hero acting rashly, without thought, or based on his emotions.
“Oh shit you’re not dead… but your quirk… that means… how the fuck am I not dead that makes no sense…”
“Kid, hey, you’re ok, you’re safe. I’m here, I’m going to keep you safe, ok?”
“But… what… how…”
“You’re ok kid. You’re going to be ok.”
“Can I make a deal with you?”
“Depends on what, but probably,” Eraserhead agreed after a few seconds of thought.
“If I go back with you, will you be able to get me the security footage of when and where I died?”
“Provided you can give me the information on when and where, yes, I can organise that,” Eraserhead agreed softly, and he sounded weirdly relieved by the question. Izuku was starting to think he’d never understand this man. Whatever. Not his problem. He was dead. He was done with having problems. Maybe this guy was his spirit guide who hadn’t gotten the memo about his suicide or something. Weird that he decided to take Eraserhead’s form but oh well.
Izuku was only interested in the footage for two reasons. One, he was curious how the afterlife would present it, and two, he supposed technically speaking he should give Eraserhead the benefit of the doubt and think the hero might actually know whether or not they were alive. Right?
So, with that sorted, he followed the hero, who- very boringly- took him along a sidewalk. They could’ve at least stayed on the road, or even better, gone roof hopping, but nooooo he was too alive for that. Stupid. He was dead. He couldn’t die twice.
Still, the hero was the only directional lead on where to go next, so unless Izuku fancied wandering around aimlessly for the rest of his afterlife, this seemed like a good option.
This was not a good option.
Izuku stared, mouth gaping, at the apartment building Eraserhead had brought him to. It wasn’t that it was fancy- it seemed fairly similar quality to his building, but they were in a shockingly good part of town- a part Izuku wouldn’t dare even visit normally for fear of being shunned for existing in it. He wasn’t even sure quirkless people were allowed here- it wasn’t that there were laws against it, but… quirkless people weren’t supposed to get in the way of those with strong quirks who have the kind of money to live somewhere like this.
“I don’t think I’m allowed to be here,” Izuku mumbled when Eraser encouraged him towards the door he was holding open.
“What do you mean? I’m inviting you in?”
“I’m quirkless, I don’t think I’m allowed in this area…”
“You’re… why would that stop you being allowed here?”
“Because- the rules?” Izuku mumbled, looking down and stepping backwards. This was weird. This was wrong. Even dead he shouldn’t be here. This was a test and he was failing. He shouldn’t be here.
“Who told you that you can’t come here?”
“It’s the rules… strong quirks live here, I’m not supposed to be here… I will get in their way… I’m supposed to stay out of their way… I’m quirkless.”
“Kid, no, the only people who say that are quirkist bullies. No one here in this building would even consider it. This is a home to underground heroes, and witness protection, and other people who don’t want too much attention on them. No one here has the space in their lives to be quirkist. And even if they were, the others wouldn’t stand for it. I certainly wouldn’t.”
“It’s not quirkist to not want me getting in people’s way. It’s not their fault I’m a quirkless Deku. I would just get in their way and cause issues, especially if these people are heroes, they have jobs to do, they can’t waste their time saving me,” Izuku insisted, desperate to pass this test. Was this determining if he would go to heaven or hell? He didn’t think he could cope with hell. He’d already been weak enough to ditch the hell that was his life, he couldn’t end up in a different type of hell.
“Kid, hey, you are not useless. It is quirkist for people to treat you badly because you don’t have a quirk. That is the definition of quirkism.”
“But I deserve it.”
“That’s not… that’s not even remotely true…”
“But… isn’t it?”
“No kid. No one deserves that.”
“Are you sure?” Izuku asked, because what did Eraserhead mean? There was no way he didn’t deserve it. Kachaan wouldn’t do all that if Izuku didn’t deserve it. All Might wouldn’t say he couldn’t be a hero unless he couldn’t be a hero. What Eraserhead was saying simply didn’t seem… right…
“I’m sure kid. Look, let’s just, come inside, it’s cold out, you can sleep here for tonight, and I’ll get you that footage, ok?”
“Ok, Izuku agreed because well, what else could he do? He didn’t know how to navigate this whole being dead thing. Maybe his whole therapy theory was accurate? After all Eraserhead did seem pretty set on making him feel less trash for whatever reason. Wow this was weird. He truely had no idea what to do.